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Scientists have created a new colour by accident

Red and yellow and green and YInMn blue... no, that's never going to catch on.

Scientists have created a new colour by accident
01 July 2016

Red and yellow and green and YInMn blue... no, that's never going to catch on.

This is the unpronounceable name of a "new colour" that has been invented in a happy accident by a team of chemists at Oregon State University. 

It looks like this...

You're probably disappointed, aren't you? You were expecting an amazing mega purple-yellowish mega hue that would make you instantly break down and cry at its beauty. 

But YInMn blue is set to be a very big deal.

Created during an experiment with manganese oxide to create new materials that could be used in electronics applications. Named after the elements its made up of (Yttrium, Indium and Manganese), this blue gains its badass status due to the way that the pigments align themselves. Apparently, due to a unique crystal structure, it's one of the most vibrant blues ever created, making it super-durable and stable. It won't fade if mixed with water or oil. 

"So what?" So, thanks to not containing any toxic pigment ingredients, and due to its ability to reflect infrared light (which has a nasty habit of heating things up), this YInMn blue could soon crop up on the roofs of all new buildings to help reduce unwanted heating.

"The more we discover about the pigment, the more interesting it gets," said Mas Subramanian of the OSU College of Science. "We already knew it had advantages of being more durable, safe and fairly easy to produce. Now it also appears to be a new candidate for energy efficiency."

Having sold a licence for the colour (that's a thing) The Shepherd Color Company, we like to think the researchers are probably doing a dance around the lab in the white coats to this...